So apparently there was a sort of tournament, and Amie really shouldn’t participate. He knew that. He didn’t want to go out and give his name to people. Being in a tournament seemed to include a last name. He’d only given his last name out once recently, and that wasn’t even to his friend, it was to some crazy supposed child in the woods. It was not a child, in the end, but he didn’t want to think about it. He had left the Worth Woodsea, met some strange woman while buying a doll, and finally gone home. From there he helped a young friend with some chores. That had all passed, and now Amie had the afternoon to himself. It was late afternoon at least, allowing the temperature to cool. He hadn’t seen his friend, and he hadn’t heard anything about his sister. He’d been looking for his friend’s missing person, but thus far no results had turned up. He fully intended to go in that direction and do some searching in person, but for now he was home. It had taken a while for his leg to fully heal, and now that he was feeling better he simply did not want to rush off and get injured again. So he got to hear a lot about this tournament style thing. Representing his guild would be fun. He was proud of his position here, proud of his friends, and of his trained skills, but he really didn’t need a spotlight, especially not after his run ins with the Magic council

Having his own personal drama with a large and public organization wasn’t Amie’s best bet for staying low profile. What exactly had gone wrong in Ambrose life lately? He’d been keeping such a low profile and not making any waves. That was great for him, it had worked for years, so what was wrong now? The first thing that came to mind was Kasimir. Amie had been with him when he told the girl his last name, but that was the only thing. Honestly it was his own stupidity. He’d gotten angry at the magic council for hunting some kid, even if the kid was fairly stupid to begin with. Well, not stupid, not stupid like Amie, but he certainly was difficult to deal with. Amie had basically made himself a wanted man in town just to help that kid out. Now that things had died off with the magic council he supposed the kid would be safe, if he minded himself. Amie hoped so, he wouldn’t be able to help after all. It was hard enough for Amie to keep his own head down. That was probably why he was at Lamia Scale, keeping a low profile.

Amie had woken up that day and stopped to think about these things. He didn’t have a roommate, luckily, but he did have his rabbits. They were outside living a happy little life in a hutch Kade had made for them. Perhaps Amie should go ahead and visit them today. They could clear his head. Soon after he bogged his thoughts up with all the problems previously mentioned.

Ambrose put on a pair of casual jeans and a t-shirt. It certainly wasn’t his normal attire. Some people called it putting on airs, and yet Amie just didn’t care. They could think what they wanted, and say what they wanted too. Amie was rarely concerned with what other people thought of him. He was a bit crazy. He’d also been taught that he was his own person, and not to worry about the concerns of others. They didn’t know him. He was a happy person, and if he liked to dress up and keep himself clean, that was his own concern. Today he didn’t plan to do that. First off, going to tend to his rabbits meant he wouldn’t be in a clean environment. Then he planned to train. His leg was better, and he wanted to work out some of his stress.

He headed outside into the sunlight and wandered off to his guildmate’s garden area. It was a nice place, and constantly stocked with some sort of vegetables. Those were good for feeding the rabbits. There was actually a nice girl in the guild who had come up with a good diet for the rabbits, it was just left too Amie to make sure it was prepared and delivered. He was happy to oblige, and headed out to the vegetables with a bowl and a knife. Amie collected the appropriate materials and started cutting them into small squares for his pets.

It was quite the contrast to Amie’s normal persona. He was usually laughing, making jokes, and having a good time. Even when he was angry and worked up into a lather, he could usually pull out several comments. Silence was not one of Ambrose’s most developed skills. He was silent for now, not even whistling or talking to himself. He was at peace in this setting. This was how he made up for things, for all the rabbits who had died when he was younger. It was how he handled the pain. He didn’t dwell on it, he just cut up some vegetables and made a few adorable little creatures happy. He had several of them, and each had a name, but he rarely shared that with outsiders. He opened the rabbit area and stepped inside. As he sat down his little friends hopped around. They knew him, and didn’t run to hide. They still needed time to calm down and get used to him, so he lay down. He was almost asleep by the time one of the rabbits’ little noses touched his hand. He smiled and turned to look at the creature. Feeling its tiny tongue lick his finger her sat up. He stroked the soft fur gently for a moment before scattering the food into various little areas.

It was this side of Amie that he didn’t need to share. He watched the rabbits eating, and got a chance to play with a few of them. It was relaxing and eased his mind. He was able to ignore the troubles he got in, or the trouble he caused for others. However the other thing that eased his mind like this was much more involved. Fighting. He didn’t drink, he didn’t date, he didn’t lie, gamble, or partake in many vices people had. A little of everything, perhaps, but with no real consistency. What he did was fight. He worked up a sweat and he got himself into trouble. As he left the rabbits with a freshly cleaned area and some extra food, he headed toward the trees. He was going to work up a sweat today, and he was going to forget about some stupid tournament that he couldn’t participate in. Oh, it would be a blast. He could see how good the other guilds were, and see how well his comrades fought. Not like watching, what could you tell from watching? You had to jump in and get involved. He shook his head as he walked, he couldn’t play that game.

The trees were moving today. The leaves fluttering in the wind, scraping against each other and creating background noise. The green grass, green leaves, brown wood, and invisible blue sky faded together for Ambrose. He closed his eyes, listening to the rustling. He’d gotten into trouble for being too trusting, too naïve. He should never have that problem. What would his father have said?

”Ambrose, what’re you doing!? Get yer head on straight! I didn’t raise you to be foolin’ ‘round there and getting yerself hurt. What would yer mother think? You’d be givin’ her a heart attack. Shape up, I know you know better’n that. Family’s the only one you can trust, so don’t go losing yer head, boy.”

Amie took a deep breath. His father was dead or dead to him. Was he alive? Somewhere? Was his mother alive too? And what about Percy? No, he’d seen Percy die. If Mr. and Mrs. Wilder were off somewhere, they were taking care of themselves. Maybe they even had some more children, their own little operation rebuilt from scratch. Figured out all their old mistakes. They wouldn’t lose their lives, their children, not again. It didn’t matter, Amie had himself, and his guild, and family. Family was still important, and one day he would find Mari. But he wouldn’t be able to find her if he got himself captured or killed. That was more than enough motivation for him to focus.

There might have been some rage built up behind the smiles and the charming banter, but Amie didn’t think so. He had violence, but he didn’t have rage. He enjoyed the fight, the blood pumping so fast he couldn’t hear, and the adrenaline stopping him from feeling the pain. Sure, he was sore, and he hurt, and everything ached some days, but it was worth it. It was worth it to be a fighting god, and one day, that was what he wanted. Deeper down than he knew. He wanted to be great. His parents had always told him to be someone. He wanted to be impressive, and powerful, but he didn’t want to be famous. He wanted to be able to fight, and enjoy the fight. He always wanted to win, but there could be fun in losing. It meant you weren’t bored. It meant no matter what, you were still trying. There was more to achieve, and Ambrose loved that. He didn’t want to reach the top alone, he wanted to reach the top and find the best to fight. He looked at his bare knuckles as his eyes slowly opened. They were going to be bloody by the end of today, he knew that. This was part of why he trained alone. He didn’t need someone worrying about his well-being. Skin grew back. Wounds closed, but training couldn’t be replaced by wishful thinking. He needed to be out here, practicing.

And since he needed to be out here training, he kept it up. He raised his fists to his face, guarding himself against any possible attacks. Alone out here it was unlikely that he would actually get attacked. Maybe a wild animal or a bandit, but he didn’t expect it. Animals were smarter than to come at a clear predator. A bandit? This close to a guild hall? Well Amie figured they were stupid, but not that stupid.

He punched forward into the tree. Hearing it crack. He charged his fists with fire, another couple punches. He was swift and powerful, but this was far more organized than his usual fighting style. He jumped to the side, punching the tree at an angle, then landing a kick. Kicking was not his style, and his shin hurt now. It probably wasn’t his best plan, but he’d done it anyway. He took a deep breath and kept going. He did this general routine for a good half hour. By the end of it he was coated in sweat. He liked the activity of working up a sweat, and he didn’t hate being sweaty when it had been from something fun… but he also didn’t like being gross. He felt gross right now.

He pulled his shirt off and tossed it over his shoulder as he walked along. He knew there was a river somewhere near here. Or a stream. It was all water to him, and that was what he needed. His scars were on display when he was shirtless, and he didn’t bother to head back to the guild hall and show those off. He kept walking, thinking about the most embarrassing train of thought he could have possibly settled on.

Amie, why are you so modest? Is it because there are so many girls around?

Nope. Why would that bother me, darling? I’m perfectly comfortable around you ladies.

Then why don’t you take off your shirt and come swimming?

Eh, I’d rather not.

Do you like anyone here

I like all of my friends.

Aaaaaamie! You know what I mean. Like do you have any crushes?

Well it hadn’t been embarrassing at the time. Even when she had teased him about how if he was shirtless around his crush maybe he’d win them over. She could tell how fit he was, and he probably looked even more handsome without a shirt on. Amie got teased a lot, actually. He just didn’t mind. He let her have her fun and took it in good nature. However his mind ventured there now. People, shirtless, crushes. He blushed and just kept walking toward the water. He was alone, he had no excuse for feeling embarrassed.

He reached the water and took off his shoes and socks. His feet in the cold water felt great. He had heated himself up quite a bit with all this working out. He didn’t care about getting his pants wet, he supposed, so he walked right in at that point. His pants clung to his legs as he got in to his waist. With a sigh he felt the liquid around him. Amie decided to try not to think about being embarrassed and just focus on his spells. He didn’t really have much of a reason to be worried. What he wanted was to learn a way to use his magic helpfully. Not just to himself but to someone else. Unfortunately his magic only extended around him like an aura. It was nothing to be directed at others at range. So he couldn’t be helpful to others. That made him a bit of a poor teammate except that he was there to hold his own. Well Amie, if you have someone you want to help, learn how to help them…

He knew who he wanted to help, maybe more than he should. It wasn’t his fault he was human. He sunk down in the water so it came to his shoulders.